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Project Gutenberg - http://www.gutenberg.org - A database of over 17000 books available online. If you can suggest books from here, that'd be the best. SparkNotes - http://www.sparknotes.com/ - A very helpful Cliffnotes-esque site, but much better, in my opinion. If you happen to come in late and need to catch-up, you can get great character/chapter/plot summaries here.  For recommendations on future material, suggestions on how to improve the club, or just a general rant, feel free to PM me. Past Books of the Month [for BOTM before 2014, refer to archives] 2014: January: Ursula K. LeGuin - The Left Hand of Darkness February: Mikhail Bulgalov - Master & Margarita March: Richard P. Feynman -- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! April: James Joyce -- Dubliners May: Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- 100 Years of Solitude June: Howard Zinn -- A People's History of the United States July: Mary Renault -- The Last of the Wine August: Barbara Tuchtman -- The Guns of August September: Jane Austen -- Pride and Prejudice October: Roger Zelazny -- A Night in the Lonesome October November: John Gardner -- Grendel December: Christopher Moore -- The Stupidest Angel 2015: January: Italo Calvino -- Invisible Cities February: Karl Ove Knausgaard -- My Struggle: Book 1. March: Knut Hamsun -- Hunger April: Liu Cixin -- 三体 ( The Three-Body Problem) May: John Steinbeck -- Cannery Row June: Truman Capote -- In Cold Blood (Hiatus) August: Ta-Nehisi Coates -- Between the World and Me September: Wilkie Collins -- The Moonstone October:Seth Dickinson -- The Traitor Baru Cormorant November:Svetlana Alexievich -- Voices from Chernobyl December: Michael Chabon -- Gentlemen of the Road 2016: January: Three Men in a Boat (To say nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome February:The March Up Country (The Anabasis) of Xenophon March: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco April: Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling May: Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima June:The Vegetarian by Han Kang July:Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees August: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov September:Siddhartha by Herman Hesse October:Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse November:Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain December: It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis 2017: January: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut February: The Plague by Albert Camus March: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin April: The Conference of the Birds (مقامات الطیور) by Farid ud-Din Attar Current: I, Claudius by Robert Graves Book available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J3W9JQW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 About the book: quote:I, Claudius (1934) is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. Accordingly, it includes the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and the Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in 41 AD. quote:The I, Claudius novels, as they are called collectively, became massively popular when first published in 1934 and gained literary recognition with the award of the 1934 James Tait Black Prize for fiction. They are probably Graves's best known work aside from his myth essay The White Goddess, his English translation of The Golden rear end and his own autobiography Goodbye to All That. Graves later claimed that they were written only from financial need on a strict deadline. Nonetheless, they are today regarded as pioneering masterpieces of historical fiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius About the Author quote:Robert von Ranke Graves (also known as Robert Ranke Graves and most commonly Robert Graves; 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985)[1] was an English poet, novelist, critic and classicist. In a way similar to Oscar Wilde, Robert Graves was a Celticist and student of Irish mythology, by the influence of his father Alfred Perceval Graves a celebrated Irish poet — with William Wilde these families were inheritors of the Gaelic revival. He produced more than 140 works. Graves's poems—together with his translations and innovative analysis and interpretations of the Greek myths; his memoir of his early life, including his role in the First World War, Good-Bye to All That; and his speculative study of poetic inspiration, The White Goddess—have never been out of print.[2] Irish literature deeply affected Graves' White Goddess theories, specifically the genre aisling. Historical Context quote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius Pacing Just read, then Post. Please bookmark the thread to encourage discussion. References and Further Reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Caesars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus http://mentalfloss.com/article/65267/12-things-you-might-not-know-about-i-claudius http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10096739/I-Claudius-what-HBO-can-learn-from-the-BBC-classic.html Final Note: Thanks, and I hope everyone enjoys the book!
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May 9, 2017 02:50
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Walh Hara posted:This is a really good book. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, but I found it extremely enjoyable. Recent I read "Count Belissarius" by him, which was also very good but not as amazing. I'm no classicist but my understanding has always been that Graves was and that this book is as historically accurate as it can be given the premise, the subject matter, and the limited and politicized nature of the historical record.
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May 11, 2017 19:11
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General Emergency posted:I think you are underselling it. The production budget isn't exactly one the level of Game of Thrones but other than that it's great. I own it on DVD and have watched it multiple times. I suspect you might not have Game of Thrones on HBO today, without I Claudius on BBC back then.
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May 15, 2017 16:15
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For next month I'm probably going to pick either Nixonland or All the President's Men. Maybe Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
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May 22, 2017 00:07
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:What? You're not going to go with "Claudius the God"? Shame. This thread reminded me that I have both books from years ago; I'm rereading them now, and they're still great. Claudius really comes across as a real person, somewhat awkward in the construction of his private writing. They're really interesting books that pack a lot of amazing history into them. My general thought process is that these BotMs are kindof a tasting tour, so I generally avoid sequels -- I figure my work is done by pointing out the first one, and people who like it can continue on to the sequel and discuss that too if they want. That said, sure, I can include it in the poll (which I should be getting up sometime this weekend). Any other suggestions besides Nixon Lit?
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May 28, 2017 05:32
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chernobyl kinsman posted:Yeah, he was right. See e.g. the reception subheading on the wiki for The Greek Myths. Or, for a more comprehensive takedown of virtually everything he says, see this review. That was written in 1955, and the book's merit in the eyes of scholars hasn't improved since then. Good to know actually. I have a copy of The White Goddess and I never got that far into it because it kept tripping my bullshit flags.
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May 28, 2017 05:33
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C'mon peeps. Gimme some good suggestions, I need a couple more.
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May 31, 2017 05:41
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